Jo Yi-shin spoke to Yeom Jun-yeol, asking him to fight alongside him, sharing many things with him.

Among the details about the plan, the participants, and the strategy, Jo Yi-shin expressed just how much he trusted Yeom Jun-yeol.

Jo Yi-shin declared with certainty:

— "Yeom Jun-yeol-seonbae will not rampage."

Yeom Jun-yeol felt a sense of joy at Jo Yi-shin’s confidence.

By his side, Cheongryong and Yeom Bang-yeol also chimed in, “Of course, our Jun-yeol couldn’t fall for such a rampage-inducing agent!” and “My son overcame a rampage even in the Replay,” showing their faith in him. Yet, Jo Yi-shin’s belief felt heavier.

Jo Yi-shin wasn’t expressing his trust out of familial bonds, but because he had calmly assessed Yeom Jun-yeol's abilities and resolve and reached his conclusion.

Yong Jegun, intrigued, spoke up.

— “But, Yi-shin, didn’t you expect them to use the corrupted darkness this time? Have you considered that they might enhance the rampage-inducing agent with that to use on Jun-yeol?”

At Yong Jegun’s words, Cheongryong and Yeom Bang-yeol fell into contemplation.

They still trusted Yeom Jun-yeol, but they knew well about the corrupted darkness.

They also knew that the mythic families had lost their chance at the great monster hunters because of the corrupted darkness.

Jo Yi-shin had witnessed this firsthand, yet his attitude remained unchanged.

— "Still, Yeom Jun-yeol-seonbae will not rampage."

— “Can you explain? I trust the words of our dragon kin’s benefactor, but I can’t just entrust Jun-yeol without some reasoning.”

— "If you truly trust the benefactor of the mythic family, then just follow along quietly."

— "Yong Jegun, if you just want to hear an explanation, just say so. Even without solid reasoning, you’re still going to entrust Jun-yeol to us, aren’t you?"

— "Did I make it too obvious?"

Despite Hwang Ho’s complaints, the dragons paid no attention.

Especially Yong Jegun, who was grinning, seemed to be eagerly awaiting what Jo Yi-shin would say.

In fact, Yeom Jun-yeol was also looking forward to it.

Jo Yi-shin glanced briefly at Hwang Ho, who was sulking, then quickly turned his gaze away and spoke.

— “It’s because we injected the rampage-inducing agent three times into Yeom Jun-yeol-seonbae.”

At Jo Yi-shin’s words, the atmosphere instantly dropped.

In contrast, Yong Jegun’s face brightened, but around him, there was always a unique atmosphere that made it seem perfectly natural.

— “I see. The fact that the enemy was persistent enough to inject the rampage-inducing agent three times shows how determined they are. Doesn’t that mean we need to be even more cautious of the rampage?”

Cheongryong’s question made sense.

But Jo Yi-shin’s thoughts seemed unchanged.

— “When there is an enemy you must assassinate, in a situation where you don’t immediately kill them, how do you feel about attacking them three times?”

Jo Yi-shin made a vague remark.

It was ominous to talk about assassination in relation to Yeom Jun-yeol, and the dragons couldn’t speak.

However, Hwang Ho and Yong Jegun answered regardless of the ominous tone.

— “It would be when you can’t kill them in one shot.”

— “Or when you want to attack three times from the beginning, right? Sometimes one hit just isn’t enough.”

Hwang Ho’s response was logical, and Yong Jegun’s was unorthodox.

But since trying to induce Yeom Jun-yeol’s rampage itself was illogical, either answer seemed reasonable.

Still, Jo Yi-shin pretended not to hear Yong Jegun’s words.

— “The reason we injected the rampage-inducing agent three times was because Yeom Jun-yeol endured it better than expected. The second and third doses would have been harder than the first, but they had no choice but to do it.”

Yeom Jun-yeol recalled the situation when he first received the rampage-inducing agent.

His body was covered in heat, and his energy leaked out of his skin, igniting in the air as dragon scales emerged.

It would have been far more difficult to target him while he was thrashing in flames than while he was standing still.

‘Just as Yi-shin said. The enemy didn’t need to inject the rampage-inducing agent in multiple doses.’

Injecting it in three separate doses increases the chances of failure.

That wasn’t all.

Since reporters were also waiting near the Yeongduam in the Replay, the longer the process took and the more times it was administered, the higher the chances of being discovered.

Also, because the doses were spread out, Yeom Jun-yeol in the Replay was able to realize that something was being injected into him more easily.

Yet the reason they had to inject him multiple times was because Yeom Jun-yeol successfully endured beyond the enemy’s expectations.

— “And even after Yeom Jun-yeol-seonbae received the rampage-inducing agent three times, he managed to maintain his sanity. Even though the Hongryonghwa occurred, he still retained enough rationality to remember and analyze the situation. The rampage-inducing agent failed. And now, Yeom Jun-yeol-seonbae is stronger than before and has even more ‘shining things.’”

Trust and conviction were evident in Jo Yi-shin’s words.

Yeom Jun-yeol’s eyes widened as he looked at Jo Yi-shin.

The painful and desperate memories of the Replay seemed to have given him a surge of emotion at Jo Yi-shin’s faith.

It seemed like Jo Yi-shin viewed the ‘shining things’ of Yeom Jun-yeol’s life—his surviving seniors and family—as the shining things, but there was something else that shone in him as well.

One of the shining things that came to mind from the Replay was a star, right in front of him.

— “The reason the enemy didn’t inject Yeom Jun-yeol-seonbae with more of the rampage-inducing agent all at once may be because they underestimated him, but there could be other reasons. Perhaps they couldn’t inject too much at once because of the risk of death before the rampage or because the rampage-inducing agent is hard to produce. This reason will work again.”

— “But there is still the variable of the corrupted darkness.”

— “The corrupted darkness is finite. If it were infinite, it would have covered the entire Korean Peninsula or at least the whole of Eun-gwang-gu by now. Besides, the enemy has many others they want to deal with. So, there will be a limit.”

Hwang Ho visibly disliked the talk of covering Eun-gwang-gu with corrupted darkness, but Jo Yi-shin remained firm in his words.

Yong Jegun grinned as he asked.

— “But after Jun-yeol rampaged, didn’t the news spread, and that’s how they suppressed the voices opposing the Player kill methods?”

Yong Jegun tried to disrupt the mood again, but Jo Yi-shin wasn’t thrown off.

— “It’s probably due to the misunderstanding about the Hongryonghwa. From the public’s perspective, Yeom Jun-yeol-seonbae’s appearance, being close to the Hongryong, seems unfamiliar.”

Jo Yi-shin smiled, looking somewhat suspicious.

— “I’m making a preemptive move. I’ll strike at the right time so that the enemy can’t make another move.”

— “What do you mean by preemptive move?”

— “We’ll reveal the Hongryonghwa first.”

As a result, Yeom Jun-yeol, just before the school trip, secretly had a photoshoot and video taken with a unique concept.

The proposal to expose Yeom Jun-yeol to the rampage-inducing agent divided opinions, but the dragons and the Red Lion clan unanimously agreed with it.

The theme, as Jo Yi-shin mentioned, was ‘Hongryonghwa.’

Although Yeom Jun-yeol’s Hongryonghwa wasn’t fully complete yet, with proper photo angles and video editing, it was entirely possible to deceive the public.

The release of the teaser video at that time was not meant to show the complete transformation, so there would be no suspicion.

‘If I could perfect the Hongryonghwa, the family members handling the editing wouldn’t have to work so hard to process it.’

Jo Yi-shin, seeing the tail of the summoned Hongryong drooping, spoke.

— “The Hongryonghwa isn’t complete yet, but you succeeded in the Replay. The rampage-inducing agent will fill in your deficiencies.”

— “Our Jun-yeol has deficiencies...?”

— “Father, as Yi-shin said, there are things I’m lacking, which is why my Hongryonghwa isn’t complete yet.”

Yeom Bang-yeol’s voice sighed, “Jun-yeol!”

In the midst of this, Yong Jegun brought a data chip and joked around.

— “Yi-shin, do you need the original photos and videos of Jun-yeol? Should I send them?”

— “Yes, please.”

— “Jo Yi-shin... By the way, when Min Green was drawing the Black Tiger’s true form, they left behind photo materials. You probably don’t have some of those pictures. Do you need them?”

— “Yes, give them to me.”

Jo Yi-shin happily checked the photos from Yong Jegun and Hwang Ho.

Yeom Jun-yeol made up his mind to work harder and practiced his Hongryonghwa before proceeding with the mission.

In the end, the Hongryonghwa wasn’t perfected, but Yeom Jun-yeol knew he would succeed soon.

Just as Jo Yi-shin had shown trust in Yeom Jun-yeol, Yeom Jun-yeol trusted Jo Yi-shin.

And that trust became reality.

‘What I lacked was passion and the power to control it.’

Yeom Jun-yeol had never wanted to burn something ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) away so completely that no trace remained.

The intense passion he would eventually feel in life, and the power to unleash it, was being triggered by the rampage-inducing agent.

If he hadn’t been able to control it, Yeom Jun-yeol would have rampaged as the enemy intended, burning everything and marking every Player as a potential threat.

But the shining things inside him prevented him from losing his way.

It was like walking in the night sky, gazing at the stars.

‘They are the ones trying to erase my shining things.’

The vertically slit pupils of Yeom Jun-yeol’s eyes captured those preparing for combat.

He raised his hand covered in dragon scales and reached out toward the hooded figures. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

KWA-AAAA!

Flames erupted from Yeom Jun-yeol’s fingertips, reaching out toward the hooded figures.

Though the corrupt darkness still lingered in the area and it was raining, the fire didn’t lose its intensity.

The flames surrounding Yeom Jun-yeol, who was in Hongryonghwa, soon suppressed the force of the rain.

It was like a downpour falling on lava, unable to cool the ground, with raindrops evaporating immediately.

‘It’s impossible to make Yeom Jun-yeol rampage or kill him!’

The hooded figures felt fear as they saw Yeom Jun-yeol in Hongryonghwa.

The descendants of dragons were strong, but they weren’t afraid.

However, that new power—an existence that wasn’t in myths or legends—was terrifying.

But the hooded figures feared something even more.

It was the shadowy figure who had set them into motion.

‘Those we can kill, we must kill.’

He gestured to those who barely avoided the flames.

At the end of his gaze stood Cheon Dong-ha, trying to calm the rampaging energy.

Yeom Jun-yeol was seeking out those hiding in scattered groups, burning them one by one, while Cheon Dong-ha couldn’t even stand properly, let alone use his eyes.

They immediately moved.

Their target was Cheon Dong-ha’s eyes.

Since high-density energy had gathered in his eyes, they calculated that injecting liquid rampage-inducing agent into his eyes would cause him to rampage and die before his body could sustain itself.

Without protection, the needles poured toward Cheon Dong-ha’s exposed eyes.

“Were you trying to kill Dong-ha?”

The moment those words were heard, flames engulfed the area, and the needles vanished.

Or more accurately, they melted in the flames of the Hongryong.

Somewhere in the surging flames around Yeom Jun-yeol’s Hongryonghwa, there may have been remnants of the needles, but they were nowhere to be seen.

“Destroy the eyes first.”

Yeom Jun-yeol’s gaze turned to those who had thrown the needles at Cheon Dong-ha.

The burning look in his eyes turned them into ash, along with their resolve.

“You’ll make sure to eliminate any chance of survival. You’ll break their devices so they can’t leave any last words.”

The dragon in front of him spoke calmly, but there was a strong emotion in his voice.

They had investigated and observed Yeom Jun-yeol to eliminate him, but they had never seen him like this.

“They must have planned to display death in front of me.”

It was like speaking about the death of a friend.

Yeom Jun-yeol's intense gaze, which burned like the flames surrounding him, swept over the remaining figures.

The battlefield was suffused with an overwhelming presence, the air crackling with energy as the students and their allies struggled to contain their powers.

Despite the surrounding chaos, Yeom Jun-yeol stood firm, his body glowing with the power of the Hongryonghwa.

The hooded figures, though strong and determined, found themselves paralyzed by the sheer force of the flames emanating from Yeom Jun-yeol.

They had hoped to defeat him, to extinguish the light that shone within him. But now, they were the ones who were engulfed by that very light.